Today, 28 April, is ‘Pay it Forward Day’. Never heard of it? We totally get that there seems to be a day for everything now, but this one is important. Although we should be spreading kindness within our community every day, it’s a nice excuse to become conscious of our actions and see what other people around the world are doing to celebrate.
Pay It Forward Day is a global initiative, with over 80 countries involved, that exists to make a difference by creating a huge ripple of kindness felt across the world.
For this year’s international Pay it Forward Day, the team at PIFD is aiming to inspire over 10 million acts of kindness around the world.
Will you contribute and do something wonderful to make a positive impact on somebody’s day, today?
Wonderful initiatives out of Fiji
Fiji, the land of the Bula Spirit, has some special initiatives going on, to celebrate ‘Pay It Forward Day’ in lockdown this year.
Here are just a few of them, to bring some sunshine and inspiration to your day:
- Mandy and Howie De Vries, a couple who own Ecotrax in Fiji, are using the 11KM of abandoned sugar cane railway in which their electric bicycle tours normally operate on to now distribute food and hygiene packs to nearby villages in Sigatoka as a way to encourage villagers to remain in their bubbles during social distancing regulations.
- Janet Lotawa, Co-Founder and Director of Rise Beyond the Reef, has turned her non-profit organisation that helps Fijians become income earners through community made crafts (tote bags, rugs, jewellery) to now make affordable fabric protective face shields for communities and organisations, along with distributing to families in need so that medical-grade masks remain available for their healthcare workers, as this supply is extremely limited.
- Two brothers, Steve and Nick Darling, who both normally live in RakiRaki and run VoliVoli Beach Resort and Ra Divers in the Suncoast have been separated due to border closures of both New Zealand and Fiji. Nick remains isolated in Whangamata, NZ, while Steve and his family remain at the resort. Both are working together virtually to provide the RakiRaki community with financial and emotional support so that the community remains in their bubble and can continue to support their own families and local villages.
- Michael Fosbender (Vomo Executive Chef), his wife Vivi (Vomo’s yoga instructor), and son Oliver remain on Vomo Private Island Fiji during Covid-19, as they were unable to leave before lockdown. The family is now supporting a group of Fijians who also remain on the small 87-hectare island, running a range of conservation and gardening projects and yoga/meditation classes to help them deal with the lockdown and cope with being separated from their own families.
- Fijians who have recently been laid off in their tourism jobs as a result of COVID-19 remain optimistic and have taken up new skills of fishing and farming so they can continue to support their families despite no longer having an income.
What can you do to ‘Pay It Forward’, today?
We’re aware that things would be much easier if social distancing and self-isolation wasn’t a thing right now, but there are still plenty of ways to ripple that kindness, near and far.
Here are a few suggestions on what you can do, today, or whenever you’d like to sprinkle kindness around like confetti:
- Help somebody in isolation by getting their groceries
- Pay for someone’s cup of coffee
- Keep smiling and being kind to all your customers, even if you’re having a bad day.
- Help someone out in need
- Pick up the phone and have a meaningful conversation with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, or reach out to someone who may need some extra support at the moment.
- Drop off a doorstep care package to a friend or family member
- Drop off a doorstep meal for somebody who might need an extra pair of hands.
- Get the next person’s food, toll, petrol, etc.
- Host pay it forward activities online with your local community
- Share the Pay it Forward Day message on your social media channels
- Give blood or organise a life-saving blood drive.
- Donate to a worthwhile cause
- Be creative!!!
Happy Pay It Forward Day!
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